Notes: The Yankees are 3-2 on their 10-day road trip, having lost the last two. … They are 6-1 against Seattle this season. … The Yankees started the day 11 games out of first place in the division, 8.5 games out in the wild card and 0.5 games ahead of fourth-place Toronto.

SIR SIDNEY: Ponson is 0-3, 8.75 in his last five starts. in 23.3 innings, he has allowed 38 hits and 23 earned runs. Ponson faced the Mariners on May 5 when he was a Ranger. He allowed one run over seven innings. The game was at Safeco.

Ponson is 3-4, 6.22 in 12 starts for the Yankees since signing in June.

GOOD MAN IN A PINCH: Joe Girardi made the right choice when he had Wilson Betemit pinch hit in the eighth inning on Friday night. Betemit doubled and is now 6 for 21 as a pinch hitter this season.

LACK OF RUNS: The Yankees have scored two or fewer runs 43 times this season, three or fewer runs 60 times and four or fewer tuns 73 times.

HAS ANYBODY SEEN MO: Mariano Rivera has not pitched since Aug. 29.

TORRE IS BACK: No, not that one. Torre Tyson, the manager of Class A Charleston, is with the team on this road trip. When rosters are expanded, teams also can add an extra coach.

Back later with updates.

UPDATE, 8:08 p.m.: Here’s Joe Girardi’s take on the state of the Yankees: “Weâ€™re not dead yet. Obviously itâ€™s a big hill and we understand that. But we still have life and weâ€™re still playing baseball and itâ€™s meaningful baseball.

“Everyone understands where we’re at but nobody thinks it’s too much to overcome. We have a tough schedule but we could win 10 in a row and who knows where we’d be if we won 10 in a row?”

UPDATE, 9:22 p.m.: Hideki Matsui said today he would be willing to play first base next season.

“Iâ€™m pretty sure I could play the infield as well, at first base,â€ he said. â€œIâ€™m going to make sure I prepare myself to play on the field, not just in the batterâ€™s box.â€ Matsui will have surgery to repair cartilage damage on his left knee once the season is over. The Yankees, he said, have not approached him about a position switch. â€œNot necessarily. But I used to play first and third. As long as I get a little work in, I should be OK,â€ he said.

Girardi said he envisioned Matsui being the designated hitter for â€œa substantial amount of timeâ€ next season.

UPDATE, 10:09 p.m.: OK, we’re about to get underway here in Seattle. For the first time since May, it’s cold enough to wear a jacket.

UPDATE, 10:14 p.m.: It would seem Abreu’s wrist is OK. He crushed that pitch. Well, the Yankees are ahead of their pace from last night.

UPDATE, 10:54 p.m.: The Yankees sure threw some leather around in the bottom of the third as Jeter and Cano made run-saving plays. Cano’s play was tremendous, especially given that Ichiro was running.

Cano is maddening. He makes so many terrific plays then screws up a simple one in a big spot. He has so much talent.

UPDATE, 11:04 p.m.: Great play by Alex to end the fourth inning. You forget sometimes what a great arm he has.

UPDATE, 11:14 p.m.: Can’t say I expected Sir Sidney would be authoring a two-hit shutout through five innings. He’s been helped by his defense, sure, but he has pitched a terrific game to this point. Meanwhile, the first five innings took 63 minutes.

UPDATE, 11:39 p.m.: Sir Sidney needed one more out to call it a good night. Single, single, home run and now the Yankees are down 3-2. You can’t blame Girardi for leaving Ponson in. He had been throwing a shutout.

UPDATE, 11:53 p.m.: There’s a reason the Mariners are even worse than the Yankees. They go up 3-2 then give up three runs. They’ve used four pitchers in this inning so far.

UPDATE, 12:23 a.m.: It won’t be a save situation. But it wouldn’t surprise me to see Mariano in the ninth. He has not pitched since Aug. 29.